The biggest part of Cuyler’s “plan” is his diet. He’s gluten and casein free, as I’ve posted about previously. We started him on it when he was 2 and saw changes from day 1.
At that point he ate pretty much anything I made him. Stir-fry’s, rice dishes, meatballs, pasta, lasagna, chicken nuggets…and I would make all his meals from scratch to ensure that there was nothing in it that shouldn’t be.
Along with the diet, we did a lot of homeopathy with him. A lot.
This much:
So many different remedies I needed to colour code a schedule. Looking back at it now (that was about 4 years ago) I can’t believe the supplements he was on and all of the wonderful healthy food he ate. It was a ton of work but the payoff was big. He made huge gains – so much so that I swore by the time he turned 6 he was going to be “normal” (I think that’s referred to as “partial denial”. But the progress was amazing.)
Now – he refuses any and all supplements. His diet is extremely limited. And he consumes way too much sugar in the form of juice (that he helps himself to – he can always find our hiding spots). I was trying to think back to when the change happened. When he became so limited with his diet. When we went lax on the supplements. I’m pretty sure it was when Eva came. And we just let more and more go when she got sick with the manny.
I realized that maybe these extreme sensory issues are stemming from his diet. And that maybe we need to go back to some of the supplements he was on before. Specifically the remedy for yeast. And at the same time reduce his juice intake to 2 juice boxes max per day and water the rest of the day. Then try and wean off juice altogether – but I can’t see that happening.
When he was little, we could always tell when he had more of the white devil sugar (aka yeast feeder) than he should have. His stimming would increase and he would creepily laugh at nothing. We’d give him the remedy and it would stop.
I’ve been on this detox for 12 days now – no sugar, no wheat, no dairy…
And I feel fabulous. If I can get the sugar out of his diet – maybe he’ll feel fabulous too.
And I feel fabulous. If I can get the sugar out of his diet – maybe he’ll feel fabulous too.
That’s on our agenda at the moment. Less juice. Less sugar. More remedy.
Then maybe he’ll get some relief from his senses.
And then maybe I’ll get some relief from his senses.
Then maybe he’ll get some relief from his senses.
And then maybe I’ll get some relief from his senses.
Wow, Christine. I knew diet could be a factor for autistic children, but I had no IDEA how much it could impact them. One little boy I teach who has autism eats the exact same thing every day for lunch, and it definitely isn’t gluten or casein free – interesting.
Then again, I know how hard food issues can be for non-autistic kids…multiply that by whatever factor the autism contributes and I bow to you for being able to control Cuyler’s diet even a little bit.
I also just read the story of Eva’s manny, so now I have to bow to you for just being able to cope with your life…period! You are amazing!